Josimene
Josiméne, 10, works as a restavec, or live-in maid, in a two-room house outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. Josiméne's parents are small farmers in Haiti's remote and mountainous heartland. Two years before these
photographs were taken, they asked a local woman to find a family that would take Josiméne as a servant.
Estimated numbers of child domestic workers around the world range into the hundreds of millions. Haiti has an estimated 300,000 restavecs -- a term that combines the Creole for "to stay" and "with."
The line between harmless chores and child labor, according to the International Labor Organization, is crossed when children are sold or trafficked; bonded to repay family debt; work without pay; are exposed to safety or health hazards; work excessive hours; suffer physical violence or sexual harassment; or are "very young."
The Maurice Sixto Foyer, a non-profit organization, offers free classes for restavecs. On many afternoons, Josiméne's errands keep her too busy to attend.
Location: A suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti
photographs were taken, they asked a local woman to find a family that would take Josiméne as a servant.
Estimated numbers of child domestic workers around the world range into the hundreds of millions. Haiti has an estimated 300,000 restavecs -- a term that combines the Creole for "to stay" and "with."
The line between harmless chores and child labor, according to the International Labor Organization, is crossed when children are sold or trafficked; bonded to repay family debt; work without pay; are exposed to safety or health hazards; work excessive hours; suffer physical violence or sexual harassment; or are "very young."
The Maurice Sixto Foyer, a non-profit organization, offers free classes for restavecs. On many afternoons, Josiméne's errands keep her too busy to attend.
Location: A suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Brian Finke
Sankar sells bottled water to train passengers in the Bhubaneswar train station, India. Boys sell water to buy food and daily necessities for living.
The railway stations in India are home for thousands of children. Some of the children have left their homes in villages outside the city. Other children live in poverty-stricken homes nearby, and occasionally return to visit. Sankar, for
instance, lived nearby but in an unstable home. His father was no longer part of the family. His mother often wasn't home. On average, photographer Brian Finke said, the children he photographed made 50 to 100 rupees (about $2-$3) a day selling bottles of drinking water. The money was enough for food and other bare essentials. Sankar and other children slept wherever they could in the station -- on the floor, on benches, on piles of luggage.
Location: Bhubaneswar (Orissa), India
The railway stations in India are home for thousands of children. Some of the children have left their homes in villages outside the city. Other children live in poverty-stricken homes nearby, and occasionally return to visit. Sankar, for
instance, lived nearby but in an unstable home. His father was no longer part of the family. His mother often wasn't home. On average, photographer Brian Finke said, the children he photographed made 50 to 100 rupees (about $2-$3) a day selling bottles of drinking water. The money was enough for food and other bare essentials. Sankar and other children slept wherever they could in the station -- on the floor, on benches, on piles of luggage.
Location: Bhubaneswar (Orissa), India
Judy Walgren
BIRGUNJ BORDER CROSSING, NEPAL - Maiti Nepal "border guards" stopped ayoung girl and the man behind her at the Nepali/Indian at the Birgunj border crossing because the man said they were married and going to see his parents in India, but they could not produce traveling papers for the girl or proof of their marriage. They were detained at the Maiti Nepal office for more questioning and then the girl's parents were contacted and she was taken home to her village.
Some 5,000-6,000 women are trafficked from Nepal to India each year, according to Unicef. The reasons for child labor, and child trafficking, are complex. They include poverty; lack of schools; gender discrimination; poor health care; war; and others. In the last several years, a range of organizations has tried to stop trafficking at the source, and help women who have been trafficked to survive and, if possible, leave. On the border between Nepal and India, women "border guards" working for Maiti Nepal search the faces of women in cars, trucks, and on foot, quizzing many about their identification, travel papers and other indications that the women might be victims of trafficking. In Mumbai (Bombay), India, Apne Aap works with women sex workers in a variety of ways.
Some 5,000-6,000 women are trafficked from Nepal to India each year, according to Unicef. The reasons for child labor, and child trafficking, are complex. They include poverty; lack of schools; gender discrimination; poor health care; war; and others. In the last several years, a range of organizations has tried to stop trafficking at the source, and help women who have been trafficked to survive and, if possible, leave. On the border between Nepal and India, women "border guards" working for Maiti Nepal search the faces of women in cars, trucks, and on foot, quizzing many about their identification, travel papers and other indications that the women might be victims of trafficking. In Mumbai (Bombay), India, Apne Aap works with women sex workers in a variety of ways.
Kayrith, Ratha, and Minea
The Dump Life
To find the main dump for the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, drive down the dirt road near the radio station in the commune of Stung Meanchey. Three siblings -- the elder boys Kayrith, 14, and Ratha, 12, and their younger
sister, Minea, 10 -- and their cousin, Thavara, 11, work there as scavengers. The siblings live near the dump with their father Bo, 37, mother Sam On, 35, younger sisters Srey Yaan, 5, and Srey Yan, 4, and 10-month-old brother Sam
Naang. Their home is a typical two-story, bamboo-framed shack with a corrugated tin roof, and walls of patched-together corrugated tin and scavenged materials. The children sleep on the second story, which has a floor of slatted bamboo. The parents sleep on the damp and muddy first floor, so that they can guard the flock of ducks they scoot into a pen beside the cooking platform. One day, Thavara sank in the garbage up to her neck. On another day, photographer Jon Warren, who is nearly six feet tall, stepped on a seemingly dry spot and sunk in up to his thigh.
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
To find the main dump for the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, drive down the dirt road near the radio station in the commune of Stung Meanchey. Three siblings -- the elder boys Kayrith, 14, and Ratha, 12, and their younger
sister, Minea, 10 -- and their cousin, Thavara, 11, work there as scavengers. The siblings live near the dump with their father Bo, 37, mother Sam On, 35, younger sisters Srey Yaan, 5, and Srey Yan, 4, and 10-month-old brother Sam
Naang. Their home is a typical two-story, bamboo-framed shack with a corrugated tin roof, and walls of patched-together corrugated tin and scavenged materials. The children sleep on the second story, which has a floor of slatted bamboo. The parents sleep on the damp and muddy first floor, so that they can guard the flock of ducks they scoot into a pen beside the cooking platform. One day, Thavara sank in the garbage up to her neck. On another day, photographer Jon Warren, who is nearly six feet tall, stepped on a seemingly dry spot and sunk in up to his thigh.
Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia